Wire-coating machine.



Patented July 2, 1912.

5 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

J. G. CALLAN.

WIRE COATING MACHINE.

APPLIOATION FILED ooT.z4,1ao7. l ,03 1 ,620.

..a IG n .n 4o d W J. G. CALLAN.

WIRE COATING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED 0012.24.1907.

1,031,620. Patented July 2, 1912.

5 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

Fig). 2..

Wii-.nessesz Y Inventor; f'4 ohm @..Callam J. G. CALLAN.

WIRE COATING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED 00T.24,19o7.

1,031,620. Patented July 2, 1912.

5 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

s' unilrnun.| iIIIIHIIIIIII f. will!!! lllllllll "HMV n l W|tne$seszIrv/enter',

Cal Ian,

J. G. GALLAN.

WIRE GOATING MACHINE.

1 G3 1 ,620. APPLICATION FILED 00T.24, 1907. Patented 2 5 SHEETS-SHEET4.

Witnesses:

' Inventor,- Johm @el len,

J. G. GALLAN.

WIRE COMING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED OGT.24, 1907.

I 031.62% Patented. July 2, 1912,

5 SHEETS-SHEET 5.

Inventor; JohmGfl/allar,

UNITED sTATEs PATENT oEEroE.'

JOHN G. CLLAN, OF NAHANT,'MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIG-NOR TO GENERAL ELECTRICCOMPANY, A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

WIRE-COATING MACHINE.

Specication of Letters Patent.

Patented July 2, 1912.

To all whom 'it may concern: Y

Be it known that I, JoH'N G. CALLAN, a

citizen ofthe United States, residing at Nahant; county of Essex, Stateof Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inVire-Coatin Machines, of which the following is a specification.

This' invention relates to machines for continuously applying a coatingto a Wire or the like, and has for its object the provision of meanswhereby the various steps of the coating process may be accomplished ina reliable, simple and elicient manner.

My invention relates more specifically to machines for applying a filminsulation to electrical conductors. The lm insulation is applied inliquid form and subsequently solidiiied.- A single coating or aplurality of superposed coatings may be applied, as desired, dependingupon the specific nature of the material.

One of the objects of my invention therefore is to rovide a machine of acompact,

well organlzed construction, which will reduce the insulation ofconductors to a succefssful operatin basis,` and produce an insulatedwire o a satisfactory quality at commercial s eeds. v

Various ot er objects of my invention will appear in thecourse of thefollowing specivication, in which my invention has been reduced to .aconcrete mechanism for purposes of illustration. y y In the accompanyingdrawings which illustrate one embodiment of my'lnvention,

Figure 1 is a sectional elevation of my complete coating machine; Fig.-2 is -a front elevation of a part of the machine; Fig. 3 is a sectiontaken on the line 3-3 of Fig. l lookingin the direction of the arrow;Fig. 4 is a plan view of the machine; Fig. 5 is a section ofthe coatingand storage tank showing the position of the .insulating fluid at thetime the valve therein is first opened; Fig. 6 is a plan view of thesame; Fig. 7 shows the stora e tank, in tilted position; and Figs. 8, 9an 10 show details ofthe coating mecha- Referrin to the drawings, A isan oven ..50 through w ich the conductor travels in the.

pxrocess of insulation; vB is the Stringing ame uplon which the wire isstrung; -C is the spoo 'ng mechanism; and. D is the fluid tank.

'55- The oven A is the upper part of a vertical rectangular box, theinside of' which is made accessible by means of a door 10-pivoted at 11,raised-by means of a weight 12 and normally held in closed position bymeans of a rope 13. Within this oven are the heating devices which areshownas heating coils 14. A driving shaft 15 is mounted in the lowerpart of the box and has securedthereto a wheel 16 which imparts a rotarymovement to the wheel 17 and the wire carrying 65 sheaves 18. The uppersheaves 19 which carry the wire are mounted upon a shaft 20 supported bya member 21 which has a yoke at the top forming a bearing for tlie'shaftand admitting the wire carrying sheaves between the bearings. Thismember 21 is supported by links 22 and 23 so that the latter have a`parallel movement. The links are pivoted at their middle points to thearm 24 at 25 and 26 respectively and the outer ends 75 are pivoted at 27and 28 to the rod 29. This rod is pivoted to a bracket secured to theframe at 30, and the arm 24 is similarly ivoted at 30. Springs 31 arearrange as shown so as to normally draw the links 22 and 23 together andtend to lhave them assume a position parallel to rod 29. The springslend flexibility to the shaft 20 and render the wire taut on Stringingframe. When the door 10 is raised, the Stringing 85 frame may be brou htdown to the position 'shown in dotted llnes so as to lpermit of-Stringing wire over the sheaves.

- wheel 32 is mounted upon the drive shaft 15 sprocket and communicatesa rotary movement to a sprocket wheel 33 on the shaft 34 by means of asprocket chain 35. The sprocket wheel 33 is integral with a sproc etwheel 36V loosely mounted u on the shaft 34, the latter shaft beingrigidly secured to the frame.

Pivoted to the shaft 34 is an upwardly eilitendin arm 37, the-upper endof which is forme into a yoke 38to which the fluid tank D is pivoted at39. Adjustably secured by means of the slot and bolt connections l40 arearms 41, the upwardends of `which are pivoted at 42 to the outer end ofthe tank. By means of the bolt and slot, the tank can thus be moved on'the pivot 39 so as to adjust the same as desired for the pur oseshereinafter set forth. l

ounted upon the tank Dy 1s a sprocket wheel 43 integral with a gear 44meshing with a gear` 45 driving the shaft 46 -upon which the coatingroller 47 is mounted. Tfhe 110 sprocket 43 is `driven from the sprocketwheel 36 by means of a chain 48 so that mo-` tion is transmitted fromthe drive shaft -15 to the sprocket chain 35, shaft 34 and chain 48 tothe coating roller 47.

Loosely mounted upon the shaft 34is an arm49 to which is secured aIflexible bearing 50 for the intermediate driving wheel 17. A hub 52 onthe arm 37 forms a bearing for the screw 53 which bears against t-hearm49. A spring 54 normally pulls the armV 49 outward so as to disengagethe intermediate drive wheel and by turning .the screw the intermediatewheel may be thrown in and out of action. The arm 49 is also connectedwith the treadle 55 by link 56 sothat the machine can be operatedintermittently by the pressure of -the treadle. When the arm 37 is movedso as to Vmove the tank D, away from themachine, the spring 54, one endof which is connected with the arm 37, will move the arm 49 and hencethe intermediate drive wheel 17 out of driving contact, and

` thus instantly stop the rotation' of the wire sheaves-and the travelof the wire. An adjustable back stop 57 is rigidly secured tothe frameso as to limitthe backward mbvement of the arm 37. When the tank D ismoved backward it will assume the. position shown in dotted lines inFig. 1. 'Y

The. tank D as shown is `divided into three i fluid supply compartments59 and three coating compartments 60. The top 61 .of the supplycompartments is air tight and is lprovided with tapering filling holes,-one -for each compartment, provided with plugs-62.

so that when the't-ank is tilted into the position shown in dotted linesthere will be an air-tight chamber 63 above the fluid whenv the tank isfilled. When the tank is moved back toits operative position shown infull lines, the space 63 will be filled with fluid, -and the airspacewill be changed in the osition shown at 64. A tube 65 is threa edthrough'the top of the tank as shown so that its upper end communicateswith the atmosphere andthe lower end opens into the tank near the bottomthereof. -This tube may be adjusted by screwing it u and down throu'hthe' top by meansof e slots in the top o the tube. The coatingcompartments of the tank connect with the filling compartment byapassage-way 66, and the holes 67 located at the undersldes of the tankcon- {nect with this passage so as to drain both compartments throu hthe said passagewa ,plugs 68, that have slotsjor va ves 69- which permitthe-liquid to flow from one compartment to the other. By turning theyplug 68 ,communication between the tw'o com artments is cut oil".Adjacenttothe partltion 70 betweenl the two compartments are plates 71rigidly held against the partition' by;

The top of the tank 61 is angular asshown-v hen desired, the ho es beingrovided wit means of a bolt 72 and nut 73. The upper portions of theplates are'formed into' U- shaped arms 74 to sup ort ther transferwheels 75. These transfer wheels are located so as to run in the slotsof the coating roller 47 through which the wire 58 runs toA be coated.Fluid is kept at a denite level within the coating compartment so thatthe transfer wheel dips into it and the plugs 76 may be removed to drainoff this compartment. A cover 77 is providedfor the coating compartmenthaving a window 78 to enable the operator to note the height and con'-Al This scraper is held in the grooves by means of the spring 80 and ascrew 81 is provided vwhich prevents the scraper from dropping back intothe-compartment. The scraper is forced against the plate 82 by the,rotation of the coating wheels. A plate 83 is provided to protect theroll. l If for any reason the coating feeds unevenly' to one or two ofthe wires, and the operator considers it nec- F essary to cut out any ofthe transfer wheels,

lit can easily lbe done by turning the nut 73 which will dra-w t-hetransfer wheell away from the coat-ing roller.

The spoolin mechanism is operated from ,the drive sha 15 by means of asprocket chain 84 which'drives a stub shaftfmounted in'bearings on themain frame,l whichshaftdrives a vertical shaft 85 through-bevel'gears86. At the upper end of thejshaft 85'is a bevel gear 87 driving a shaft88"to which is secured a friction wheel 89 coperating with v a bevelfriction gear 90 mounted onshaft 91. This shaft 91 has a bearing in thebracket 92 pivoted to the main frame, and at` its outer end is securedthe spool 93 upon which the wire is wound after it is insulated. The

bracket 92 is pivoted on a shaft 94, and thefriction gears 89 and 90 areheld in contact by means of the adjustable lweight 95. The.

wire is led across the-spool by means of a cam 103 which is caused to,rotate by mea-ns of threads on the shaft 85 and the worm gear 96. Thiscam 103 causes the'rock shaft 97 to be moved back and forth by means ofl the arm 98J having a roller at its outer end coperating with theface'of the cam. A rod 99 is adjustably secured to the shaft 97 andbas'at its outer end a roller 100 which, as the shaft 97 rocks, leadsthe wire across the spool while the tension ofthe wire brings 1t back.The wire is fed from a similarlyoperated spool 101 which, however,requires no feeding mechanism so that the w1re passes off the spool 101thence down to thev lower shea-ves 18 up through the oven and back andforth from the lower to vthe upper sheaves until it is wound on thespool 93.v i

' 85' andv likewise to` the coating ro The shaft 88 may'havefa numberof' friction gears 89 and 90 attached thereto to .oper-i ate all of thespooling devices simultaneously, and the rock shaft 9T may. similarlyoperate a number of the guiding rollers.

The operation of my machine will be clearl understood from the foregoingde scription. The-pulleyv 102 transmits power to thefspooling mechanismthrou h theshaft llers through the sprocket 33 andi, chain 48. To ll"the coating tank, the latter is movedv out from the coating rollers sothat it will be in a tilted positlon shown in dotted'lines in Fig. 1.The tank is then filled with the passage 66 to the coating compartmentclosed. An 'air' space is thus left in the chamber 63. The tank is thenmoved backtoits operative osition and the s ace will be trans- ?e'rredto the position` own at 64. Communication is now opened between thecoating and storage compartments by means of the valves or slots 69m theends of the plugs 68. The fluid will then rise inthe coating compartmentabove thelevel of the lower extremity of the'tube 65.. After the machinehas run a short time, however, the fluid is consumed until it reachesthe level of the lower end of the tube which .is the` permanent workinglevel of the luid.` The".

slight vacuum will be maintained therein.-

This vacuum is suiiicientto support the amount of iuid within the tank.'In thefeeding operation as the iuid in the feeding compartment isreduced, the level in the coating compartment fall below the bottom ofthe tube 65. 'This unbalancing allows air to enter the liquid throughthe tube in suliicient quantity tocompensate for the increased spacecaused by the new supply fed into the coating compartment. In this waythe iuidin the coating compartment ol. the tank is maintained at aconstant level. When it is desired to clean out the coating compartment,the tankl may be tilted back and the plug 68 closed so as to keep the!fluid in the supply compartment. The tank may then be washed out and thewashing fluid allowed to run out by removing the plugs 76.

The arrangement of the coating tank above described has many advantagesin that the level of the fluid is always const-ant, and the iuid, whichis oftentimes of a volai tile nature, is kept entirely inclosed.

Various modifications of my invention will, of course, suggestthemselves to those skilled in the art without departing from agecompartment communicating with each other, a coating wheel located insaid coat l ing compartment, means for passing' the wire 'adjacent tosaid coating 'wheel, and means for automatically stopping the movementof the wire when the tank 1s moved.

3. A wire coating machine comprising a fluid tank having a coatingcompartment and-an air-tight storage compartment communicating with eachother, a coating wheel located'in one of said compartments, means forcausing the wire to travel adjacent said wheel, and a tube leading fromthe atmosphere to a point within said latter compartment below the fluidlevel.

4. A wire coating machine comprising a pivoted tank having acoatingcompartment and an air-tight filling compartment communicatingwlth each other, means for carrying the wire into engagement with theinsulation carrying means, and means for automatially stopping themovement of the wire.when the tank containing the insulating medium ismoved on its pivot.

5. A wire coating machine comprising a pivoted tank provided with acoating compartment and an air-tight filling compartment communicatingwlth each other having different positions for' operating and filling, acoating wheel located in one of said compartments, means for causing thewire to travel adjacent said wheel, means for forming an air pocketabove the iiuid level, and a tube leading from the atmosphere to a pointbelow the fluid level in the storage compartment. l

6. A wire coating machine comprising a movable fluid tank having acoating compartment and an air-tight storage compartment communicatingwith each other, means q or'maintaining a constant level inthe coatlngcompartment irrespective of the level in thel storage compartment, meansfor carrying the wire into engagement with anin said latter compartment,and a tube leading from the atmosphere to a point within the air-tightcompartment below the fluid level, a coating wheel located in one ofsaid compartments, and means for causing the wire to travel adjacentsaid wheel.

8..`A wire coating machine comprising a pivoted fluid tank having acoating compartment and an air-tight storage compartment, said lattercompartment being sup-v plied with a chamber for trapping air when thetank is lled, means whereby the tank may be moved to cause luid to flowinto the coating compartment and ll said chamber,` and a tube leadingfrom the atmosphere to a point below the level of the fluid in thestorage compartment.

9. A wire coating machine comprising a pivoted uid tank having a coatingcompartment and an air-tight storage compartment, said lattercompartment being supplied with a chamber for trapping air when the tankis full, means for carrying the Wire into engagement with an insulationdistributing Wheel in the coating compartment, and means forautomatically stopping thev travel of' the4 wire when the tank is ment,said latter compartment being sup-- plied with a chamber for trappingair when the tank is lled, ,means wherebythe tank may be moved to causeHuid to flow into the coating compartment and lill said chamber, a tubeleading from-the atmosphere to a point below the level of the fluid inthe storage compartment, means for carrying a wire into engagement withan insulation distributing means in working relation with the coatingcompartment, means for automatically stopping' the travel of the wirewhen the tank is moved, and means for moving the tank on its pivot.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this twenty rst day ofOctober,

JOHN G. CALLAN. Witnesses:

JOHN A. MCMANUS, Jr., HENRY O. WESTENDARP.

